NV NV - Steven T. Koecher, 30, Henderson, 13 Dec 2009 - # 5

[laytonian]

it is fairly easy nowadays to pick up a wireless signal for free from neighbors or even going to Starbucks and the like for that matter. The signal won't be as strong or reliable as your own but free is free and you'd be surprised what some people have done using other people's wireless connections.

I know *lots* of people who do that, even though they know it's illegal to hop onto someone else's wireless.

BUT...here's what I'm thinking: Most people know about the traces left on their own computer.....and Steven had enough internet knowledge (SL Tribune website, Matchbin, etc) to know that traces would be left on HIS computer.

THAT, to me, explains why he used the library's computers rather than taking his notebook to McDonald's and using their WiFi.

 

[harleysnana]

Harleysnana,
Wow, what a tough situation for your family. I'm assuming that your daughter was prescribed medication for her Bipolar Disorder when she was diagnosed ? Had she stopped taking it ? Steven's family said that he was not taking any prescribed medication, and had never been diagnosed with a mental illness. Your grandkids are so lucky to have you in their lives. I hope your daughter's condition improves soon.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words!
We are very happy that we have the girls… and they are happy to be with us.
They know their mommy is sick and can’t take care of them right now.

The thing about mental illness is that sometimes the person doesn’t know they have it.
My daughter didn’t realize she was changing until we told her she was.
That is when she got help… but she does not take her meds regularly.

It is possible that Steven was dealing with issues and didn’t realize it was mental illness.
They change so fast it’s sad.

I also have thought that maybe he met someone and got in their car to go some place
and they were in a car accident. Sometimes cars are not found for years.
I wonder if anyone else is missing but not reported?
Just another thought I had.

I wish we could find him!

 

[laytonian]

carbuff found this one (congrats!)

There's ONE problem: the guy is 17 years older.

He walked out of his home.
Got into a car his wife didn't recognize.
He hasn't been seen since.

So....why is this so interesting? Because it's recent (Oct 2008), AND took place only 2.3 driving miles from where Steven's car was found.

See Richard Edward Goodwin on our "similar-cases" page----and look at the map:
http://sites.google.com/site/parallelcooler/home/koecher-html/similar-cases

 

[pudd]

I also have thought that maybe he met someone and got in their car to go some place
and they were in a car accident. Sometimes cars are not found for years.
I wonder if anyone else is missing but not reported?
Just another thought I had.

I think this is a definite possibility, given the surrounding desert.

 

[laytonian]

I think this is a definite possibility, given the surrounding desert.

The most likely place to be "lost" after a traffic accident, is through the Virgin River Gorge (the short portion of I-15 through Arizona). Problem is, it's north of Vegas (back towards St George).

It's a good theory, but don't we need to find someone else who went missing about the same time as Steven?

Outside of overpasses and a very few gullleys, the rest of the desert is so flat...it'd be hard for an accident to go undetected for this long.

Here's a case where an elderly St George, Utah couple went missing for two months and despite several searches, couldn't be found:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/847369/

 

[Mia]

I posted a page or so back questioning those who theorize Steven ran off purposefully - if he did so, why did he not bring ANYTHING with him other than a portfolio? Not even a change or clothes, a small overnight bag, something? I feel similar about the computer/laptop issue. IF Steven purposefully were leaving his life behind and/or running off with someone and wanted to cover his computer tracks to hide who he had been in contact with or what he had been googling/researching, why wouldn't he just take his laptop with him or heck, even toss it/throw it away? Why go through the trouble of trying to delete his history or hide what he had been doing on his laptop when it would have been so much easier to just take it with him or toss it? Anyone? This is yet another reason why I think Steven did not run off on purpose.

 

[laytonian]

I posted a page or so back questioning those who theorize Steven ran off purposefully - if he did so, why did he not bring ANYTHING with him other than a portfolio? Not even a change or clothes, a small overnight bag, something? I feel similar about the computer/laptop issue. IF Steven purposefully were leaving his life behind and/or running off with someone and wanted to cover his computer tracks to hide who he had been in contact with or what he had been googling/researching, why wouldn't he just take his laptop with him or heck, even toss it/throw it away? Why go through the trouble of trying to delete his history or hide what he had been doing on his laptop when it would have been so much easier to just take it with him or toss it? Anyone? This is yet another reason why I think Steven did not run off on purpose.

I totally agree.

The points you make, point to either him planning to return, or knowing that he will not need any of the items he left behind.....and that's different than a purposeful "running away".

 

[RubyRed]

http://www.lvrj.com/business/sun-city-anthem-resident-battles-hoa-65931272.html
Could this D.W. have any connection to G.W.? Just something I came across.

 

[laytonian]

http://www.lvrj.com/business/sun-city-anthem-resident-battles-hoa-65931272.html
Could this D.W. have any connection to G.W.? Just something I came across.

Del Webb?

That's the name of the corporation who built Sun City communities throughout the US; they're now part of Pulte Homes. The founder, Mr Del Webb, died in 1974.

Here's his wikipedia bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Webb

 

[carbuff]

There's a middle school named after him in Henderson, according to the Wikipedia article.

 

[laytonian]

There's a middle school named after him in Henderson, according to the Wikipedia article.

That's the school that went on lock-down a week or so ago, when a guy walking on a foothills path was hit by a bullet. It's about five miles away from Steven's "parking lot".

 

[carbuff]

Here's some info with a photo: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6819111

So the question is, IS he related to our GW?

 

[laytonian]

Here's some info with a photo: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6819111

So the question is, IS he related to our GW?

That may be the question, but when's the last time any question related to "our" GW was answered?

 

[carbuff]

Okay, Del Webb didn't have any children, so if he's related, it's a more distant relative:
"Webb’s marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Hazel, broke up in 1952. Nine years later he married Toni Ince, a millinery buyer for a Phoenix department store. Toni Webb survives him and lives in Beverly Hills. Neither marriage produced children and much of Webb’s fortune went into the Del E. Webb Foundation, which funds medical projects in Arizona, California and Nevada." (http://www.impactlab.com/2010/01/05/who-was-dell-webb/)

So if he's related, he's not a real close relative.

 

[webrocket]

carbuff found this one (congrats!)

There's ONE problem: the guy is 17 years older.

He walked out of his home.
Got into a car his wife didn't recognize.
He hasn't been seen since.

So....why is this so interesting? Because it's recent (Oct 2008), AND took place only 2.3 driving miles from where Steven's car was found.

See Richard Edward Goodwin on our "similar-cases" page----and look at the map:
http://sites.google.com/site/parallelcooler/home/koecher-html/similar-cases

I appreciate the time you took to put this table of cases together but I don't really see many (if any) common threads here. Goodwin was a corrections officer so he no doubt many enemies but on the other hand probably knew the system if he wanted to disappear.

I particularly loved the James Lewis Perryman, the so-called straightedged guy. So clean cut he packed a pistol.

 

[laytonian]

I appreciate the time you took to put this table of cases together but I don't really see many (if any) common threads here. Goodwin was a corrections officer so he no doubt many enemies but on the other hand probably knew the system if he wanted to disappear.

I particularly loved the James Lewis Perryman, the so-called straightedged guy. So clean cut he packed a pistol.

That's a straightedger for you. SLC used to have a real problem with straightedge gangs (including a few murders).

Who's to say that you have to be a cookie-cutter type, to be lured away?

Is it more reasonable that a guy on his day off, gets into a strange car in front of his Anthem home....or that an unemployed guy walks away from his car and disappears into Anthem, 2.3 miles away?

Or maybe it shows something else: despite the claims that "1500 people are reported missing every month in Vegas".....very few of them are in the category of the case we're discussing -- or that the Brenton and Morse cases couldn't be linked?

Matt Brenton's wife lives in Colorado, and the only Matt Brenton I can find, was a medical researcher. In Colorado.

 

[liz b.]

Laytonian,
Great work on the list. I find the Matthew Watson Brenton case to be really intriguing. He went missing at 9 am, and has never been seen since. There seems to be no information about him at all. I can see some young dudes would get drunk and act crazy in Vegas.Maybe do things they regret -- but this guy vanished, and has never been seen since. Just weird. Richard Edward Goodwin, this is interesting because of the location, and the way in which he vanished. Might have wanted to leave his marriage, I guess, but it is still strange the way he just got in the car like that.
Most interesting to me,though, was the report about the man who was shot in the neck as he was walking one morning recently in the Anthem area. No place is as safe as we might think. Keep up your excellent work.

 

[NotNoseyObservant]

Great work you guys - just needed to give you all some encouragement -
I love all the theories - thoughts being thrown around
Harleysnana - thanks for sharing something so personal, it helps us/me to see this as a real possibility for SK.
Keep it up guys - wish I had something to add.

 

[webrocket]

That's a straightedger for you. SLC used to have a real problem with straightedge gangs (including a few murders).

Who's to say that you have to be a cookie-cutter type, to be lured away?

Is it more reasonable that a guy on his day off, gets into a strange car in front of his Anthem home....or that an unemployed guy walks away from his car and disappears into Anthem, 2.3 miles away?

Or maybe it shows something else: despite the claims that "1500 people are reported missing every month in Vegas".....very few of them are in the category of the case we're discussing -- or that the Brenton and Morse cases couldn't be linked?

Matt Brenton's wife lives in Colorado, and the only Matt Brenton I can find, was a medical researcher. In Colorado.

I had no idea the 'straightedge' referred to a gang.

For better or worse or in reality or fantasy, Vegas has this image of being a place where secrets are kept. But looking at the guys on the list, some of these dudes had weapons with them, others did not. Some had drug histories, others did not. Some were married, others not.

I just don't see a common denominator other than the fact that they are guys who disappeared in or about Vegas.

 

[hollyblue]

I have a question:

Can a laptop be used to trace someone? Like a cell phone in a sense. The IP address? It would only be tied to the owner/user? Maybe the reason for him not taking it??
Just a thought...